A quarter of young men have a gambling problem and GPs should consider screening them for the addiction, researchers say.

A University of Bristol study found that 25 per cent of men aged between 18 and 24 had gambling problems of varying degrees of severity. The researchers polled more than 1,000 patients in 11 Bristol GP waiting rooms. About one in 20 people had a gambling problem and one in five of those had a severe problem. Young men were much more likely to have a problem, as were people who used drugs and those who had depression or risky drinking habits.

Sean Cowlishaw, from the university’s Centre for Academic Primary Care, who conducted the study, said that young men were often a vulnerable group. He added: “We are seeing the first generation who have grown up with high levels of gambling exposure normalised. We are talking about advertising constantly, online gambling, on smartphones as well, and betting shops clustered on high streets with electronic gambling machines.”

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The Elvis-inspired service featured the rock’n roll hits Blue Suede Shoes, All Shook Up as well as gospel tracks Take My Hand Precious Lord and How Great Thou Art.

Upon seeing the church was packed to the rafters – and there actually were rafters – Reverend Hoey indicated that the church could maybe repeat the event, but change the theme.

“It’s proven so popular, who knows what’s next? Maybe Johnny Cash.”

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Proposals to make changes to Canon 31 of the Scottish Episcopal Church’s canons have now been discussed by all the diocesan synods. A very clear majority of the synods voted in favour of change – 6 dioceses voted in favour, whilst one (Aberdeen and Orkney) voted against change.

The changes that are proposed would allow some clergy to be nominated to be able to conduct marriages for same-sex couples. If the changes are approved they would also remove the ban on clergy and lay readers entering into same-sex marriages themselves.

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Reactions from North’s supporters among the clergy run the gamut from horror to outright despair. Rebecca Feeney, an ordinand training for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House, commented that: “There has been consistently misleading and polarising rhetoric about the Catholic position, which has resulted in immense negative press about Bishop Philip – someone a lot of women, myself included, would not have trained or be training for priesthood without. For many, he is a living embodiment of what mutual flourishing means, and in light of this, the treatment he has received is particularly strange and cruel.”

Fergus Butler-Gallie, an ordinand at Westcott House, fired a mighty broadside: “I’d say that any affirmation that involves the personal smearing of a brother or sister in Christ is no affirmation at all and that, if anything, it makes the church look even more like a genitally-obsessed bunch of do-gooding hobbyists than ever before.

“The fact that the highest paid clergyman in the Church of England (Martyn Percy) can use the deanery of an Oxford college as a sniper’s post to take down a convincing advocate for the very poorest in society (with a columnist for the Guardian feeding him his ammunition) will send one message and one message alone – we care more about our own sub-Freudian internal wranglings than we do about the care of God’s people.”

Future prospects for the unity of the church are grim. This episode has sent a clear message to conservative Anglo-Catholics that they are not wanted. The same logic that barred North from his diocesan post will surely be applied to suffragans before long.

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As deaths from painkillers and heroin abuse spiked and street crimes increased, the mayor of Everett took major steps to tackle the opioid epidemic devastating this working-class city north of Seattle.

Mayor Ray Stephanson stepped up patrols, hired social workers to ride with officers and pushed for more permanent housing for chronically homeless people. The city says it has spent millions combating OxyContin and heroin abuse — and expects the tab to rise.

So Everett is suing Purdue Pharma, maker of the opioid pain medication OxyContin, in an unusual case that alleges the drugmaker knowingly allowed pills to be funneled into the black market and the city of about 108,000. Everett alleges the drugmaker did nothing to stop it and must pay for damages caused to the community.

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O Blessed Saviour, who art full of mercy and compassion, and wilt not cast out any that come to thee: Help us, we beseech thee, who are grievously vexed with the burden of our sins; and so increase in us the power of thy Holy Spirit that we may prevail against the enemy of our souls; for thy name’s sake.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to thee, when my heart is faint. Lead thou me to the rock that is higher than I; for thou art my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in thy tent for ever! Oh to be safe under the shelter of thy wings!

–Psalm 61:1-4

In recent months Exeter Cathedral has been on a journey of self-evaluation and change. That process has raised some challenging issues, not least financial. While some progress has been achieved, there are still many challenges ahead.

In that context, and having reached the age of 65 last month, after considerable thought and reflection the Dean, the Very Rev Jonathan Draper, has announced that he will retire at the end of August this year. He and his wife Maggie are on leave this week, and on his return Jonathan will be on sabbatical. He has been Dean for over five years and has achieved considerable change including renewing the outward focus to the city and county, and giving the Cathedral a greater mission focus. His preaching ministry has been greatly appreciated. He has led the huge improvements to the repair and maintenance of this historic building, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Jonathan has been 34 years in ministry in places as diverse as London and York, in parishes, cathedrals and in theological education. Our prayers and thoughts are with Jonathan, Maggie and their family at this time.

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The Queen has highlighted respect and understanding between nations as the key to peace in her annual message to the Commonwealth.

The Queen’s address to 2.4 billion citizens promotes this year’s Commonwealth Day theme of “a peace-building Commonwealth”.

With division over Brexit in the UK and instability around the world, the theme seeks to reaffirm the Commonwealth’s charter principle that “international peace and security, sustainable economic growth and development and the rule of law are essential to the progress and prosperity of all”.

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….the recent Bishop Philip North episode ought to make us suspicious. The theology of inclusion and equality didn’t apply to +Philip, whose great mistake was to believe what all Christians in all places at all times (until Karl Marx) have believed – about the orders of the Church.

The three-card trick that Professor Percy and his cultural fellow-travellers play is to refuse to exclude anyone except those who don’t agree with them. You only get to be included in the equality stakes once you have accepted their moral and political presuppositions. So, of course, they do actually discriminate between anyone who shares their basic world view and those who don’t.

They pretend they are relativists by claiming that all views are equally legitimate, but become absolutists if you challenge their relativism. In other words, their ideas of equality and relativism are actually practised by placing their value above those who disagree with them, and discriminating against anyone who has the audacity and moral turpitude to dissent.

Meanwhile, they claim the higher moral ground by pretending to be something that they are not – outlawing discrimination while practising it.

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The Tanzanian Ministry of the Interior has declined to intervene in the dispute surrounding the forced retirement of the Bishop of Dar es Salaam. This week’s ruling strengthens the hand of the Primate of Tanzania, the Most Rev. Jacob Chimeledya in his dispute with the Bishop of Dar es Salaam, the Rt. Rev. Valentino Mokiwa (pictured). However, moves are afoot in the House of Bishops to impeach Archbishop Chimeledya and restore Dr. Mokowa to office.

In a letter dated 6 March 2017, the Registrar of Corporations in the Interior Ministry, Mr. M. L. Komba, told Archbishop Chimeledya “since the Anglican Church and the Diocese of Dar es Salaam are governed by constitutions, we have advised Dr. Mokiwa to convey his complaint on the existing dispute to an appellate tribunal within the church.”

The government’s decision leaves intact under civil law the 7 January 2017 deposition of Dr. Mokiwa for financial misconduct. However, a majority of bishops have come out against the archbishop. They have demanded he hold a meeting of the House of Bishops to address the dispute — a move the archbishop has so far declined to do, as a majority presently exists that could vote him out of office and restore Dr. Mokiwa.

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Anglicanism is a treasure to be received in gratitude and joy. It is a gift from God, not simply a pretty way of worship and living devised by some creative souls.

It is the faith and life of the catholic church developed over its first seventeen centuries, leavened with Reformation soteriology. It is particularly marked by the elegance of Thomas Cranmer’s liturgy, enriched by the bishops who gave us the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

Its method is that of Richard Hooker, whose vision of the Trinitarian God of Israel was steeped in meditation on Scripture using the prism of the Fathers.

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“From Pentecost on Christians are meant to be connected,” said the Very Rev. Craige Borrett, Rector of Christ-St. Paul’s, Hollywood, who served as Chairman of the Provincial Affiliation Task Force for the Diocese, and who recommended this affiliation last March. “We’re family. And with this decision we’re uniting ourselves with a diverse group of biblical, orthodox, Anglicans who are recognized by the majority of the Anglican Communion. I’m excited about the impact we can have as well.”

“The ACNA is full of ministry friends and colleagues we have known and worked with for many years,” said the Rev. Canon Jim Lewis. “It is a joy to now be under one roof with them. We’ll be blessed to have the benefit of the work they’re doing in important areas like church planting. And we look forward to sharing our assets as well – things like our strong youth and grandparenting ministries and our beachfront camp and conference center, St. Christopher’s.”

The Convention was also blessed with a recorded greeting from the leadership of the Anglican Communion’s GAFCON movement, The Most Rev. Peter Jensen and the Most Rev. Peter Akinola. “In times like these we need to be able to partner with fellow Christians who share common faith with us,” said the Archbishop Akinola. “We need to stand together to make a difference in this world of darkness where people are deviating day by day from the standards of scripture. We know that in the ACNA we can stand together to work for the glory of God.”

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If it’s universally acknowledged that a single man with a good fortune needs a wife, the American economy may be now illustrating the inverse of that corollary: Poor men with dwindling job prospects are going to lack marriage prospects.

The decline of the institution of marriage has been studied by social scientists and policymakers, but new economic research from MIT economics professor David Autor and his colleagues points to labor issues that helped Donald Trump win the presidential election: The decline of American manufacturing and the rise of Chinese imports.

As manufacturing jobs dried up over the last few decades, blue-collar men have suffered from lower income, fewer job opportunities and the increased likelihood of risky behavior, which in turn has hurt their marriage prospects, Autor and his co-authors wrote in a paper published at the National Bureau of Economic research.

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Most gracious God, by the calling of thy servant James Theodore Holly thou gavest us our first bishop of African-American heritage. In his quest for life and freedom, he led thy people from bondage into a new land and established the Church in Haiti. Grant that, inspired by his testimony, we may overcome our prejudice and honor those whom thou callest from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

O Eternal God, who hast taught us by thy holy Word that our bodies are temples of thy Spirit: Keep us, we most humbly beseech thee, temperate and holy in thought, word and deed, that at the last we, with all the pure in heart, may see thee and be made like unto thee in thy heavenly kingdom; through Christ our Lord.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust without a fear. What can flesh do to me?

–Psalm 56:3-4

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Dozens of drivers lined up in beat-up vehicles stuffed with mattresses, cooking pots and other belongings, clogging a road outside one of the most desperate and dangerous camps that serve as refuge from the war with Boko Haram.

All were waiting for the Nigerian military to escort them back to the farms and the villages they had fled during the yearslong rampage by the insurgents here in this northeast corner of the nation.

The military and the government have proclaimed that the countryside outside Maiduguri, the busy Borno State capital where Boko Haram was born, is mostly safe now. They’ve said it’s time for most of the nearly two million displaced people — many of them farmers and fishermen fighting to stave off hunger — to go home.

But the soldiers were guiding the throngs of people into a future that was no more certain, and potentially just as dangerous, as the past they had fled.

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Bp Mark Lawrence’s Address at the 226th #SouthCarolina Diocesan Convention https://t.co/d6e4ApVjXv @anglican #globalisation #Episcopate pic.twitter.com/MZvW0sbmNP

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 12, 2017

ACNA is a partner with who we can stand “in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” The entire Anglican world has been in disarray since TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada took unprecedented actions in 2003, tearing the fabric of the Anglican Communion. Unfortunately, the unravelling has continued through the last decade and to date none of the four historic Instruments of Unity have been able to mend the net nor to exercise godly authority. The future within Anglicanism now appears to lie with alignments of relationship and gospel mission rather than hierarchal solutions. Our brothers and sisters in the ACNA are partners “with whom we can stand in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” (Phil 1:27)

• There are things a Province can do better than a Diocese. Just as there are things that a diocese can do better than a parish and things a parish can do better than a diocese so too there are things a Province can do better than either. We as a diocese can do much to reach those within South Carolina. Yet we also live our lives within a nation and within the wider culture of North America. Much that happens in various parts of the country soon than later end up influencing life here in the eastern half of our state. The make of shoes James LeBron wears in Cleveland can be seen on the young boy playing hoops in Berkeley County. Just as we recognize the need for voting in national as well as regional politics, we also recognized we have Christ’s command to reach and influence the spiritual landscape on a larger scale. The ACNA boldly seeks to reach all of North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. I believe that is something we can all support.

• The ACNA’s principle of subsidiarity—that of resolving questions at the lowest level possible—seems well fitted for the post-Christian world that we have entered into and with the differing societies of North America.

• The convictions and ministries which we have fashioned and been fashioned by will be warmly celebrated and shared. I

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Write deeply upon our minds, O Lord God, the lesson of thy holy Word, that only the pure in heart can see thee. Leave us not in the bondage of any sinful inclination. May we neither deceive ourselves with the thought that we have no sin, nor acquiesce idly in aught of which our conscience accuses us. Strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit to fight the good fight of faith, and grant that no day may pass without its victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord

The earth is the LORD’s and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.

–Psalm 24:1

Diocese of #southcarolina votes formally to ask to be a member of #ACNA, vote passed unanimously in both orders #anglican #usa #religion pic.twitter.com/vJwga1IbV6

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 11, 2017

What would you like to say to students who have an interest in science at a young age? And what would you like to share with parents or grandparents who fear that science and faith don’t mix?

One of my heroes in science is Johannes Kepler, who was probably the first physical astronomer. He actually broke out in song because he discovered something really cool in science and astronomy. He wrote about it in a notebook, giving glory to God for that new finding. The idea that we “explore the world that God created” really resonates with me. And it’s basically what I do.

We have a way, as scientists, to explore the world and try to understand what God created. He gave us a playground, if you will, to actually go and explore the world.

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Philip North’s appointment to Sheffield was a litmus test. I had to admit that I was wrong about my first hypothesis when he was elected. But the great advantage of having views that constitute hypotheses is that one can test them and change them.

But the more important test was to come – the commitment to mutual flourishing, mutual respect; the promise that inclusion and diversity meant what they said, and were not just closet weapons to lull the traditionalists into wistful trust before expelling them.

The North appointment was a serious test for the much vaunted ‘Good Disagreement’ that Archbishop Justin Welby has staked his archiepiscopal strategy on.

It has all gone badly wrong….

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A decade or so ago, I moved with my family to New York City thinking I was going to get to serve alongside and learn from one of the greatest preachers and visionary leaders of our time. Indeed, I did get to do that, along with a few others. But even more than this, the man gave me (and us) what McCheyne said is the most important thing a minister can give to his people — his own holiness. For me, Tim’s life has painted notable pictures of integrity that exceeds imperfections, character that exceeds giftedness, prayerfulness that exceeds pragmatism, other-centeredness that exceeds personal ambition, generosity that exceeds personal comfort, and humility that exceeds (even a stellar) impact.

And now, Tim is beginning to paint for us a picture of what it can look like to finish well. He is providing glimpses of what it can look like to say with one’s life and not merely with one’s lips, “I am, and always have been, unworthy to untie the straps on Jesus’ sandals. He must increase, and I must become less.”

And yet, in becoming less, the man is becoming more. For as the man himself has said in sermons, “The less we presume to act like kings, the more like kings we shall be.”

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Transhumanism is a loosely-defined cultural, intellectual and technical movement that describes itself as seeking to “to overcome fundamental human limitations” including death, aging, and natural physical, mental and psychological limitations, says humanity+, a transhumanist online community.

The movement overlaps greatly with posthumanism, which posits that a new, biologically superior race is on the horizon, and could replace the human race as we know it. Posthumanists support technologies such as cryogenic freezing, mood-and-intelligence-enhancing drugs, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, bionics and “uploading” a mind to an artificial intelligence.

These movements stem from the idea that human limitations are just “technical problems” that need to be overcome, said history professor Yuval Noah Harari in a 2015 interview in “Edge,” a non-profit website devoted to the advancement of technology….

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Although a handful of quantum-enabled sensors, modest quantum networks and rudimentary quantum computers are already in use, they still fall short of fully exploiting quantum advantages, and few of them are ready to be widely deployed. According to McKinsey, a consulting firm, in 2015 about 7,000 people worldwide, with a combined budget of about $1.5bn, were working on quantum-technology research (see chart). Industrialisation will boost those numbers.

What is notable about the effort now is that the challenges are no longer scientific but have become matters of engineering. The search is on for smaller atomic clocks, for example; for a means to amplify and route quantum-communications signals; and for more robust “qubits” (of which more later) for quantum computing. Startups are embracing the technology with gusto, and tech giants have already planted their flags. There is wide agreement that Google is furthest along in quantum-computer technology and that Microsoft has the most comprehensive plan to make the software required.

Public money is flowing in, too. National and supranational funding bodies are backing increasingly ambitious quantum-technology efforts. Britain has a programme worth £270m ($337m) and the European Union has set aside €1bn ($1.08bn) for a pan-European programme. Many quantum technologies have security implications, so defence departments are also providing funding.

Many firms are already preparing for a quantum-technology future.

<a href=”http://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2017-03-09/quantum-devices#s-3″>Read it all</a>.

Almighty God, spirit of peace and of grace, whose salvation is never far from penitent hearts: We confess the sins that have estranged us from thee, dimmed our vision of heavenly things, and brought upon us many troubles and sorrows. O merciful Father, grant unto us who humble ourselves before thee the remission of all our sins, and the assurance of thy pardon and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.